diesel plays an important role in the early 20th century specially in the use of trains where it was a major source of transportation that helped the economies of european bloc and United States and even Canada. Cheap diesel replaced the steam engine.

Edwin Hubble-Noble Prize Winner. He discovered certain scientific facts in the previous century which brought science in accordance with Qur'an. For instance

Regarding the nature of the universe:

Edwin Hubble, provided observational evidence that all galaxies are moving away from one another, which implies that the universe is expanding. The expansion of the universe is now an established scientific fact.

“With power and skill did We construct the Firmament: For it is We Who create the vastness of Space.” Qur’an Ch51:V47

Regarding the origin of the universe:

According to “The Big Bang”, the whole universe was initially one big mass (Primary Nebula). Then there was a BIG BANG (Secondary Separation) which resulted in the formation of Galaxies. These then divided to form stars, planets, the sun, the moon, etc. The origin of the universe was unique and the probability of it happening by “chance” is nill.

“Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of Creation), before We clove them asunder?” Qur’an Ch 21:V30

Apart from the book of optics, he is often regarded as the founder of the modern scientific method.

In the modern era, I would have to say the great Carl Sagan. A good scientist and philosopher, he was one of the pioneers of making science interesting and understandable. Even Asimov was in awe of Sagan

Wow different point of views. Thank you guys for posting. Einstein couldve been the greatest modern scientist, his theory of relativity, quantum theory is truly brilliant, my old choice could've been Newton, for I love physics and i even teach this subject in college wakikik...

Werner Heisenberg would be my choice, though he's maybe not the greatest. He formulated the Heisenberg uncertainty principle which states, in quantum physics, that you can know the position of a particle (electron) or it's speed, but you cannot know both at the same time. It alludes to the idea that the act of observation makes the data subjective.

getting to know the speed of microscopic particle like electron is very difficult and takes lots of time and complex computations to do that, i guess you have point eventhough this discovery subjective.

What they are saying is that sub-atomic particles can only be "viewed" as being where they are in the instant that the "viewing" occurred. If they are "viewed" at another instant, they will "appear" to be somewhere else. So you can never definitely say for certain where any particle is always going to be based solely on observation. Hence...the subjectivity...

no idont have language difficulties i used to write as an sports editor in my alma mater in college... hmmn im just a bit lost with that subjectivity thanks onthewriteside for the help i really appreciate that...

for me there is absolutely no question who is the greatest scientist of all time and there can only be one answer...

the truly great scientist has to have a breadth and depth of vision, interest and be a dreamer.. and yet pay meticulous attention to detail, have an inquisitive mind, be capable of considering things off the beaten path. Above all though he or she has to be a communicator

I used to have two candidates for the title of "greatest scientist" but after long thinking rejected Darwin. Not because he was "right" or "wrong", that is in the nature of science; although he came close he fell short in "communication" outside his peer group; that was done for him by others

the answer has to be who has long been my first choice as greatest scientist, engineer AND artist: Leonardo da Vinci

Well said paul, you have a very captivating finesse and creativity in writing, I hope I can write and think with so much depth and breadth like you. Yeah, Leonardo Da Vinci is a good pick, he's versatility as an artist and scientist is at par with the best. I always think of Mona Lisa, everytime I hear the name Leonardo. Thanks for posting.

Einstein, while working as a patent clerk in 1905, published at least 3 papers in 1905 that could have earned him a Nobel prize - Brownian motion (whammy), special relativity (double whammy), and photo-electric effect (no whammy).

Einstein is one of the greatest minds of the 20th century, but by the 1950's he was the "old sod" that tried to keep the "young turks" honest. It is amazing how often his name comes up even now (EPR paradox, Bose Einstein condensate, etc...)

Nicola Tesla.Why? His work was ahead of his time for example powering your cellphone without connecting it. YES! Of course Tesla had plans for larger scale wireless charging patent. Is that awesome or what?

Nikola Tesla without a doubt. And not just from the widely known stuff anyone can turn up about him via Google, either. The dude had a LOT of inventions that never saw the light of day because there was just too much fear and loathing being thrown at him. I've just GOTTA throw my vote to a guy that can walk around with a gizmo capable of causing earthquakes yet so small he could stick it in his pocket.

Nikola Tesla is indeed a prolific scientist and specializes on magnetism, he is known for his photographic memory, being an electrical engineer, a croat, and believed by many as the first one who created the loudspeaker which is a transducer device.

He was my second choice. He came up with (or discovered) a form of electricity that enabled a person to handle the wires with their bare hands and not be electrocuted. At the time, it was a question of which form we would use, Tesla's very safe method, or the one we actually use now. One reason we use the one we have now is because it must be generated by a power plant. With Tesla's version, you could plug into the ground.

Maybe the fact that JP Morgan was one of his backers had something to do with that decision. . .

For the 20th Century I'm most in awe of Einstein, Max Planck and Tesla. It's a shame Tesla's inventions were supressed - we could all be enjoying free energy by now.

21st century physicists that are on the cutting edge are Edward Witten, Brian Cox and Michio Kaku. When it comes to thinking about teleportation, time travel, interstellar travel and quantum entanglement they are out there.

Greed may have been the culprit, because his inventions might affect the global economy and will surely cripple some companies during his time. Same scenario happened to one of our inventor here in the Philippines, this Filipino (I already forgot his name but his breakthrough was already aired in local television here) have created fuel from cocktails of organic materials (water is the main ingredient in this fuel). This could've cut our oil imports and could've help our economy. Now the rights/patents of his discovery was bought by some Japanese inventors.

Yeah he is. But I think his discovery of the E=mc^2 also paved the way for the inventions of hydrogen bomb and nuclear weapon. Still, Einstein could give any scientists a run for their money hehehe, and will be considered as the greatest by many because of his breakthroughs and discoveries.

I have this short story about Albert Einstein when he was an elementary grader. His teacher would tell Einstein's as having no future ahead of him because at that time Einstein reads not the normal way, he read from right to left, instead of the normal left to right. Lo and behold, time have had rebuked Einstein's teacher, for he was a genuine genius and gave humanity concrete answers to many questions that was left answered by some scientists ahead of him...

Einstein is my choice,i think his imaginations of time and space is truly brilliant.I would treat his name as a meaning of imagination.I really wondered about his time dilation.For me,Einstein will be the greatest scientist ever and no one can occupy this position.

I found this via a post on facebook. Thought it worthy of reposting here, since so many revere science as being the be-all and end-all for any philosophic/religious argument.I guess the "scientists" are not...

"A prize-winning quantum physicist says a spiritual reality is veiled from us, and science offers a glimpse behind that veil. So how do scientists investigating the fundamental nature of the universe assess any...

I just heard this on TV...but can't remember it all.The partial definition of String Theory is something like: quantum mechanics is all about the smallest, and theory of relativity is the other end of the spectrum,...